.last of those it was december 1, 2009, at west point, that president obama announced the surge. >> and as commander-in-chief i have determined it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 u.s. troops to afghanistan. >> reporter: at that time he also announced a schedule for their withdrawal, a goal that has now been met. 33,000 u.s. troops took part in the surge. 10,000 of them were out by july of last year. and the remaining 23,000 are now gone. but in his statement, the defense secretary had a sobering reminder saying, "it is important to underscore that even as our surge troops return home, there are roughly 68,000 americans who remain in a tough fight in afghanistan, alongside their nato and afghan partners. we are a nation at war." the human toll of the surge was tremendous. of the almost 2,000 u.s. casualties in afghanistan, 57% happened during the surge. now those who remain face the die-hard insurgents and the growing threat of insider attacks. the deadline to bring the final american troops home is still 2014. muhammad leila, abc news, kabul. zbhoo